Always There
by hopefaithlovelife
Summary: Ever wonder what happened after Jen's Funeral? Are Pacey and Joey forever?
1. Chapter 1

Ch 1

"Some things never stay the same," A teary-eyed brunette said while looking out the window. She heaved a sigh and closed her eyes.

"A lot of changes these past few years, Potter a _lot_ of changes." Pacey Whitter said as he comforted his girlfriend, by resting a rough hand on her shoulder.

A beautiful sunset was saying its good-byes to the countryside of Capeside, drawing its last breath on a summer night. The drive had been a long one, everyone knowing what was soon to come. Pacey left the paved highway and made the turn onto the dirt road that he was all too familiar with.

"It's like they're all gone now, you know?" Pacey's girlfriend Joey had murmured, almost under her breath. "It's the last of the Lindley's."

"Not the last, Joe. Don't forget about Amy."

Amy was the daughter of Jen Lindley, who had passed away two years earlier by a heart condition that she was unknowingly born with. Joey and Pacey were returning to their old homeland, not only to attend the funeral of Jennifer's grandmother, whom they were all very close with, but to remember their friend by coming back to the place where they were first introduced.

"I wonder if Dawson got here yet." Joey said while unbuckling her seat belt as they pulled up into the B&B driveway.

"Let's just hope he has the decency to come at all." Pacey said as he put the car in park and shut the engine down.

* * *

"It is with great misery that I have to relay this message of Evelyn Ryan's passing. Evelyn was very active in her church and community, never missing an opportunity to make her _extremely_ popular peach pie for the yearly pie contest, and who never missed a year in 25 years of winning. Evelyn was diagnosed with breast cancer nearly 7 years ago, and though everyone had suspected it was all gone, the cancer had a way of popping back up in other places. Evelyn was one of the strongest women I have ever met, and she was always finding ways to fight back what was trying to kill her. Evelyn fought her hardest for seven tough years, forgetting about her own pain to take care of her granddaughter." The reader cleared her throat in an effort to hold back tears.

"Evelyn Ryan is predeceased by her husband, John Ryan, and her granddaughter, Jennifer Lindley. May they all be in the hands of God, and be well taken care of, as they will all be missed dearly." Gail Leery smiled smartly and quickly wiped a single tear that dripped off her cheek. "Thank you." She said serenely and walked off, back towards her seat.

Joey grabbed Pacey's hand that rested upon her knee, and gave it a quick squeeze.

"In conclusion..." The minister started, as he opened his bible to read one of Grams' favourite verses, a baby with blonde hair let out a heart-wrenching scream that left everyone in the church silent and solemn. The crowd let her do her crying, because there were not many two year olds who had lost two mothers before their third birthday.

* * *

"I don't know where he is. I tried his cell phone three times already," a dishevelled mother said about her son. "I can't believe he would miss this."

Dawson may have finally reached his childhood dream of becoming a famous movie-director, but he was also showing signs of being quite infamous for either being late, or not showing up at things at all.

"Nothing to worry about here," Said a smiling Dawson Leery. "I showed up late so I sat in the back row with the Whitters. Lily has anyone told you that you've put on some weight?" Dawson said to his ten year old sister, struggling to keep holding her up. "You were much smaller since the last time I seen you, let me tell you." He said, while lowering her onto the floor.

"That's what happens when you're away for two years," Joey said, coming up from behind the crowd and being pulled into a warm hug by one of her oldest friends.

"God, I missed you." Dawson said, into the hair of his best friend.

"I missed you too, Dawson, really. Congratulations on the new film. When do you start?" Joey said, with a look of real, genuine happiness for her oldest friend.

"Casting was last week, shooting starts hopefully October, November at the latest. I am lucky to have such a team working with me. Spielberg outdid himself this time."

Joey smiled and shook her head at his words. "Spielberg. It's kind of crazy to hear you drop names like that Dawson. But honestly, I knew you could do this. I believed that someday, you _would_ do this."

"I know you did too, Joe." And a look passed between two close friends that hadn't been passed in many years. It was enough for Joey to blush and look away, feeling awkward that it had felt awkward.

"I guess I'll see you later, Dawson. I have to go find Pace and Bessie, we'll be in touch tonight, before you leave again."

And with that, she was gone like the wind. She was one thing that Dawson was never able to hold onto; he was always able to catch it, but it could never be held onto forever. But maybe that's the way that he liked it. He smiled and scanned the room, looking for the one thing he could catch.

* * *

**A/N: Hey, thanks for reading. I don't know what you think of the story, but I had to write it for one of my classes, and it is the first of three chapters. If anyone likes it, hey, maybe I will continue writing it! Thanks for reading, and I would love some reviews!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own Dawson, or his creek.**

Joey's eyes opened wide, with a look of wrath at her boyfriend as he grabbed her large book from her lap.

"We're on_ vacation_, Potter. You know this. The least you could do is to put your work away for _two minutes._"

"Mr. Freidman is counting on me to get this work done. I might get a raise after all of this, and then I will vacation."

"Raise-shmaise. Potter you have to live life on the wild-side for once. Come on, get ready and let's go out. I heard the ice-house is closed, but Fresh Fish is still open and Gretchen is in town for a couple of days. What d'ya say?" Pacey gave his girlfriend one of his infamous smiles and she couldn't resist.

"We can't stay out too late,"

"Of course not,"

"I need to finish this tomorrow,"

"Oh don't I know..."

"Mr. Freidman will—"

"_Alright, Potter. I get it. _**Let's go.**" Pacey fell on top of her and the couch, pretending to fall asleep. "Could you _be_ any more boring tonight, Josephine?" Joey rolled her eyes, pushed him off and walked to her old bedroom to change.

"So, I take it you didn't do it yet." A brown haired, blue eyed sister said, while cocking a smile in Pacey's direction.

"Of course not, and if you say anything..." Pacey motioned with a thumb across his neck and stuck his tongue out, pretending to be dead.

"I know, I know. But you better do it before you leave here Mr. Whitter. She is my sister and I _never_ get to see her anymore, so I want to be here for this!" Joey's sister Bessie had said, grinning from ear to ear about the news that Pacey had given her yesterday.

"Just one little piece of advice there Whitter, never ever do to her what Boatie has done to me." Bessie's enlarged stomach was stuck out enough for her to put a plate and eat her supper on. At eight and a half months, Bessie was expecting any day for her second child, next to Alexander who had just celebrated his twelfth birthday.

"I can't promise you anything, Bess." Pacey said, with a wink and then strolled off.

Bessie smiled and shook her head. It was a toss-up for her, for many years as to which boy her sister would finally choose. Even though Dawson and Joey claimed to be soul mates for their entire lives, and shared something only some people dream about: she felt deep in her heart that Joey had never, and would never, care for anyone the way that she cared for Pacey. And now, knowing that her sister was just moments away from getting married, she didn't have a doubt in her mind that it was the right decision for everyone.

Joey and Pacey made their way up the cobblestone steps to 'Leery's Fresh Fish' restaurant, owned by Dawson's mother and stepfather, though previously by his deceased father, Mitch.

"I wonder if they still have the stuffed haddock..." Joey was asking, her mouth watering at the thought.

"Hey! Your only supposed to be craving my homemade dishes, remember?" Pacey said, with a look of fake disgust towards his girlfriend. Pacey had worked his way up the food chain back in New York, finally making him assistant to the head Chef at a classy restaurant in the meat packing district. It was long hours, with not much pay, but Pacey knew himself that it was what he really loved to do. It was and had been his passion and he would be stupid to let it go.

"Sorry darling, maybe you could make me stuffed haddock sometime. With basil and dried tomatoes and..."

"Ok, I get it. You like the stuffed haddock." As Pacey opened the heavy wooden doors of 'Fresh Fish,' he and Joey were greeted with a crowd of people beckoning them inside.

"Pacey!" A high-pitched squeal came from out behind the crowd, as Pacey's ex-girlfriend, Andy, came running out of the crowd. She grabbed both Joey and Pacey into a tight hug saying, "I missed you guy's so much! I missed you so much!"

Pacey and Joey exchanged glances and smiled, too. "We missed you too, Andy," they said in unison.

At the Capeside gathering, they met with many lost friends, who had just gotten misplaced along the way. Jack, who was the godfather and took over the caring for Jens's baby Amy, had come over and given them both a hug. "We all missed you guys terribly," He said, showing signs of tears and a slight hint of alcohol on his breath.

"Alright, it's about time for me to get you home," Constable Doug Whitter said. He and his brother Pacey shook hands, said their hello's and grabbed his boyfriend by his shoulders. "Amy doesn't want to wake up to a sick daddy tomorrow, now does she Jack?" He said to a nearly drunk Jack and steered him in the direction of the door.

"Well, if it isn't baby brother!"

"Seems like its family night here tonight now doesn't it?" Pacey said, with a twinkle in his eyes. "Dougie just brought his drunken boyfriend back to their new house, and I am greeted by my lovely sister, whom did I mention, I have not seen in two years?" Pacey grabbed his sister and hugged her, swinging her around off the ground.

"I missed you, Pace!" She said; her smile as wide as possible. "And I'm coming to visit you! We're going to be neighbours soon, for a while anyway!" Gretchen looked excited and exhausted all at the same time, but she put an arm around Joey and brought her in for a hug.

"Really, Gretchen? That's great!" Joey said into Gretchen's arm.

"And to what do we owe this great pleasure?" Pacey asked, excitedly.

"I'm coming with Dawson, while he films his new movie!" Both Gretchen and Pacey smiled radiantly at each other, Joey smiled on the outside – while her stomach dropped to her feet.

**A/N: Ok, so no reviews BUT I know you are reading, because of this magic site. Anyway, if you like it, you know what to do!**


	3. Chapter 3

Pacey travelled slowly up the dirt driveway, trying to avoid as many potholes as possible. The Potter B&B was only a few meters up the road, and Pacey hoped desperately that Joey's sister, Bessie had taken care of all the precautions he had expected her to fulfill.

"Your awfully quiet tonight, Potter." Pacey stuck a sideways glance at his partner.

"Just thinking," Joey said, while looking out the window.

"Thinking about what?"Pacey asked, as he swerved to avoid a rather large pothole.

"Life...Capeside...Stuff." Joey's mind was racing. "It's hard to believe the people we have lost..." She trailed off. In the distance, the outside light of the B&B was on.

"Some days I forget her face and I have to look at her picture to remember."

Joey's mother had passed away before her thirteenth birthday, and for years it had always left an open wound in her heart. With the more recent deaths of close loved ones, she found it hard not to open that door again.

"It's always going to be hard, Joe. You know that as well as anyone. But this is life, and it has to go on, whether you like it or not. We can't change the past, and we can only hope for a good future. Life has been hard on you, but just look what you did. You went ahead and made your own future, you got what you dreamt of for so long. You're living your dream. I just hope I'm the guy that helps fulfill it."

They were not stopped in the yard; most of the lights were turned off inside the house, as it was nearing midnight.

"You are, Pace. You always were. I think I knew that before I knew anything else." She tenderly touched Pacey's cheek in a cupped palm, and kissed him.

"I love you, Potter." She smiled and kissed him again.

They opened their doors and got outside. Joey stretched her arms wide, while yawning. Something grabbed her attention.

"Someone left the lights on the dock on." She said, wondering what was going on. "One of the boarders must have forgotten to turn it out." But as she looked closer, she saw candles flickering in the moonlight, alongside the bright lights.

"We better go see what's going on," Pacey said, smiling to himself, but more nervous than ever before.

Pacey grabbed Joey's hand and they walked together towards the dock, where a single boat stood in the water, occasionally softly bumping against the wood of the dock. The moon hung low, and it lit up the whole creek, the water in its midnight blue glory.

"Pace..." Joey started and stopped. Both confused and excited, she clutched his hand harder.

As they neared closer to the end of the dock, candles had been lit all around, with hundreds of lilies lying around the wooden dock. Joey cried at the sight of the lilies, as they often made her do; as her mother was called after them and passed on her love for them to her daughters.

"I thought it might be easier for you... to know that your mother was closer..." Pacey said, as he picked a lily that was lying by his feet and passed it to Joey.

Joey took the flower from her boyfriend's fingers and gingerly smelled the flower. It brought back powerful memories, and she let the tears slide down her face. But she smiled and turned to him.

"Joey..." She knew what he was going to say, before he even said it. She felt that this day was coming, and she was ready for it. She was waiting for it.

"God, Joe, I just... I just love you _so_ much. I want to spend the rest of my life with you."Pacey got down on one knee, and Joey seen their whole life pass in front of her very eyes. The good, the bad...

"You are everything to me..."

_Their first kiss, she was so unsure..._

"I want us forever,"

_Dawson overhearing arguing about their relationship for the first time..._

"You make me who I am,"

_Their amazing first summer together..._

"I love you,"

_The first time he broke her heart, the pain she felt..._

"Will you marry me, Josephine Potter?"

_The love she felt for him._

"Yes, Pacey, Yes, of course I will!"

And it was the beginning of the end for both of them, because they knew that it was only in time that they would devout themselves to be together forever in front of friends and family, and more importantly, themselves.

**A/N:**

**Hey guys, thanks for reading! Sorry it's been a while since I updated... busy with university! Thanks a lot to my reviewers and readers for, well, reading. As I might have mentioned (?) in my first chapter... this was meant as a school assignment and this was the third and last chapter. I love DC, and would be happy to continue writing if you guys are interested in my story! Let me know! Thanks!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimed: I don't own Dawson's Creek. Obviously.**

_Did she say whole milk or skim milk?_ Joey thought as she browsed the milk section of the grocery store. Bessie had sent her on a quick run for some breakfast material before the boarders at the inn had woken up.

Joey herself was still reeling from the night before, where Pacey had proposed in the glistening moonlight on that dock where she spent years of her life standing on. Joey, of course, had said yes to Pacey's proposal and after much screaming and kissing and tears, Pacey and Joey returned to Joey's old room where they made love for the first time as an engaged couple.

The glint of the diamond glistened in a noticeable way in the bright grocery store lighting and Joey couldn't help herself but stare at it. How awkward she felt to have a wedding ring on her finger, but how much she had come to love it already.

Joey chose the milk and grabbed a bun of bread and walked over to the cashier. The store wasn't busy at 8 o'clock in the morning and she immediately began to up her things. She nearly jumped out of her skin when she felt a warm hand touch the back of her shoulder.

"A little jumpy this morning, are we Joey?" Of course she knew the voice before she even turned around, and instinctively her fingers moved to her wedding ring and slid the diamond around so he couldn't see it.

"Dawson!" Joey said and motioned Dawson into a hug. "It's so great seeing you like this. I know I said this before, but I missed you!"

"You know I missed you too Joey. But I take it you were talking to Gretchen last night... it looks like I'm leaving L.A for a few months to shoot 'War Zone' within the next two months."

"You know you guys are welcomed to stay with Pacey and I," Joey started but was cut off by Dawson.

"I wouldn't want to impose. Plus we have so many people and equipment coming with us that it wouldn't really make sense. But of course we will be able to see each other more often. Hey, what are you doing today? Maybe you can take a run over to Mom's, I'm leaving tomorrow at 6 am so we may not be able to catch up before then."

Joey was in the process of handing the cashier the change due and putting her wallet into her brown leather purse. "That sounds great Dawson. I'll try and get over after lunch."

They hugged again and Joey made her way out through the revolving doors, not turning back.

"Well, I was thinking about dropping by Dawson's in a bit, he is leaving tomorrow." Joey said, her body and Pacey's were tangled up on Bessie's couch. "And I wouldn't really want Bessie or the guests to catch us like this," as she zipped up her sweater and stuck her tongue out at her newly named fiancé.

"Oh Potter, you always were one to ruin everyone's fun." Pacey winked at her and ran a hand through her long brown hair.

"So did you want to come, or did you want to meet up later?" Joey asked, referring to Dawson's.

"I think I'm going to drop in on Doug and then maybe I will swing by and pick you up?" Joey nodded, smiled and grabbed her coat.

"I'll see you in an hour or so." She opened the door and a gust of wind threw her back harder then she had expected.

"Be careful out there, Potter," was all he said.

Paddling was much more harder then Joey had remembered, even on a blustery day as today. _I think I'm using muscles I never knew I had... looks like maybe I should start the gym..._ After much longer then Joey had recalled it took her, she arrived at Dawson's. She tied up her boat and climbed onto the dock where she could hear childhood screams of laughter off in the distance.

"_Catch me! Catch me!"_

"_No, Lily! You're too heavy!"_

"_Am not! Butthead."_

"_Don't call me a butthead! I'll pull you!"_

"_No! Alexander don't! Stop!"_

"_Lily, of course I wouldn't pull you down."_

Turns out Joey wasn't the only one who was listening. Joey noticed Dawson standing on the step, his hands in his beige cords and wearing a brown t-shirt was watching from a distance.

"Hey, stranger!" Joey called from the dock, and began walking up.

Dawson began walking towards her, and though she loved him, and she would always love him, she knew it was time.

"Pacey and I are engaged!" Joey shouted at the top of her lungs and threw her hand up in the air, with the diamond facing him.

Dawson came to a complete stop in the middle of the lawn. And from fifteen feet away, she could see him smiling. That was all she needed to start running to him.


End file.
